Can We Really Change Who We Are?
May 17th, 2008 | 
Author: When we see someone behaving dysfunctionally, lets say they get drunk all the time and get into trouble, we generally label them as a drunk and say that they need to get help.
In theory it’s simple, they need to look at why they drink and then stop it. But in practice it’s not something that comes easily to change old established patterns, let alone ones that have addictive qualities like drinking or smoking.
This is because it requires us to be more conscious than we’ve been before. Our mind is desgned in such a way that once we learn something, it becomes embedded in our psyche, so that we can act quickly if required at any point. It becomes a habit and we don’t think about it anymore.
For example, driving a car, when we first learn, there’s a lot of concentration that goes into it as the brain processes all the different elements – we bring consciousness to it because it’s important to us to know how to drive. Once we get the licence though, we generally go into auto pilot while driving and rely on what we’ve learned. This then enables us to listen to music, have conversations with people in the car or with ourselves in our own head.
We’re not really present while driving, then when something happens unexpectedly, we may not have the time to react and may have an “accident”. The reality is that you, as consciousness are absent and the auto pilot is doing the best it can to keep you safe.
I recall going for my motor bike licence about 10 years after I got my drivers licence and the training method used for motor bikes is a lot more rigorous than for driving. They stress the importance of anticipating events, i.e. if something happens it means that you didn’t anticipate it. In this way you take full responsiblity for yourself on the road and maintain a much higher level of concentration and therefore consciousness.
The change then, comes from the degree of consciousness that you bring to what you do. If you think about it, you can choose to do whatever you want in any moment, if you bring consciousness to it. Advertisers don’t want you to know this, they make more sales when you do things in auto pilot. You make better decisions when you’re conscious.
In upcoming posts I’ll discuss more about consciousness.
Angelo Campione
Posted in Self Awareness
2 Responses to “Can We Really Change Who We Are?”
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I find that sometimes when I get in the car and go somewhere, I get there and have no memory of the drive. It seems to just happen. I thought it was just experience in driving.
Michelle
I used to experience driving as Michelle describes it: Lost in thought one ends up where one is supposed to be. I also found that I was neither truly aware of how I got to my destination nor what I had been thinking en route.
I have since moved to a different country, where driving in this manner will, at some point lead to an accident, as a high percentage of drivers on the overpopulated highways and byways, are highly irreponsible or down right incompetent drivers. I have, out of necessity, become much more aware of what goes on on the road, but, strangely enough, I am also far more aware of what I am thinking whilst driving. It is like a two track system that allows me to be aware of whatever it is that I am doing and what is going on in my mind, at the same time.
Admittedly, many a thought goes towards wishing a variety of mishaps upon yet another road abuser who has endangered my life for no reason, other than that he wants to get there first. Wherever ‘there’ may be. I have, since a week or two, made the conscious effort of not thinking these thoughts and think more constructive thoughts instead. It seems to work; at least some of the time.